THE ŰBERBUZZ BLOG - The John Busby diary of a free radical

Ethel The Frog

2008-05-15T05:56:57Z

In South Melbourne on Tuesday night, a man was shot dead by police after he fled a car carrying drugs and weapons.

He fled on foot and in so doing, he shot at police with a handgun. He managed to shoot one police officer in the leg, but was shot dead by the police before he could do serious injury to the law enforcers.

Samir Ograzden had an extensive criminal history, including four outstanding warrants concerning drugs and violence.

Yesterday morning the dead man's distraught girlfriend went to the scene of the shooting, Channel Ten reports.

"He was the most wonderful person, he'd do anything for anyone," she told the Ten network.

This reminds me so much of Stig O'Tracy's comments regarding Dinsdale Piranha, when it was suggested to him at interview that Dinsy had nailed his head to the floor:

"No. Never. He was a smashing bloke. He used to buy his mother flowers and that!"

There may be some of you who do not understand this reference and some of you who can not fail but to smile wistfully. If you need it explained to you, try this for starters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_Brothers

Though better still, find the original sketch and watch it. Brilliant stuff.

Oh stuff it. Here it is:

Bankiing At The Moon

2008-05-14T06:31:36Z

The United Nations is a prestigious organisation, though much maligned for it's lack of action when faced with a crisis. Some of it is totally unjustified and I am given to wondering just why it is that it is scorned by many of the world's leaders and derisively referred to by others?

I think I have the answer.

Ban Ki Moon.

What's in a name? Well, quite a lot really and frankly 'Banky Moon', has got to be right up there with the worst of them. How the hell can you select a guy with a name like that and then not piss yourselves laughing whenever you here him mentioned?

Over the decades there have been some pretty damn badly named people selected as Secretary General:

Dag Hammarskjöld

U Thant

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Kofu Annan

to name a few...

But really, 'Banky Moon'?

How could they? It sounds like something from Star Wars (episodes 4-6) and I think he would feel very much at home with 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' or 'Chewbacca' at his side.

"Use the UN force, Luke!" I hear him utter.

Some things are just plainly wrong.

It's Good News Week

2008-05-11T22:39:20Z

From the front page of NineMSN comes the following shocking news:

'Arrogant' Saxon Gets Booted Out of Big Brother

and:

Lara Bingle's father dies

Oh, there was some story about a crisis is Burma but that really isn't worth repeating here.

Radio Times

2008-05-08T03:01:55Z

A sure-fire sign of rapidly increasing dotage is listening to AM radio. I confess therefore to my worrying decline in this regard.

Radio 6PR has recently running some community advertisements directed at paint taggers. We endure listening to mock discussions from a couple of taggers. The dialogue is full of "Hey man" cliches as they regale us with tales of tagging gone wrong. One young and up-coming tagger tags the property of his moronic friend's grandmother, for instance.

Fascinating stuff and really thought provoking. I have sworn off tagging for good and no doubt the 6PR audience demographic have done likewise. I'm just not so sure though, how many of them are 16 year old deadbeats with a spray can in his hands.

Yes, it's one of those 'State government initiatives'. Good to see that the taxpayer's dollar at work, providing us all with the illusion that our elected representatives really give a flying rat's arse.

Why don't they make commercials that promote contacting your member of parliament and using them as a resource to resolve your issues? It seems to me that the people serve their members rather than being served by them.

And if I hear WA's leading social engineer - Jim McGinty on radio again any time soon, I shall clone myself and send it off to kick him in the nuts. This piece of crap only hides under his bed whenever any media person wants to raise any real issues with him. He is however surprisingly available to self-promote or to jump on the bandwagon of any populist vote winning issue. Gutless.

The 'Christian' Thing To Do

2008-05-06T04:00:30Z

Alison Fan will tonight broadcast an interview she has conducted with John Kizon regarding Ben Cousins.

The interview was conducted at a wake in a Subiaco restaurant recently after the funeral of Craig Christian's father. No doubt a fine crowd of upstanding citizens turned out to farewell Craig's old man. I'm sure he spent the last half of his life revelling in the antics of his son and his associates. He must have been a top bloke to produce a piece of excrement like that and I would like to pay final tribute to him. Well done sir! He sets a fine example to all would-be killers thugs and drug dealers.

I wonder if it was a religious service? I've never had anything but contempt for a church that can welcome and take support from organised criminals and drug dealers, but hey! hypocrisy has long been their hallmark hasn't it?

What Kizon could possibly add to this saga is beyond me. I have heard shorts from the broadcast in which he rails at the Eagles for not providing sufficient guidance and help. Yet, here is a man with his record of criminal activity and drug dealing, spouting forth on the subject. What a laugh.

He may be right in his suggestion that the Eagles didn't do enough for Ben, but as someone else has said, what did Kizon do for him - his friend? I can guess what he did. Probably put him in contact with someone who could provide a ready source to feed his addiction.

We need some good old Melbourne Underbelly blood-letting here and I would delight at the prospect of seeing the likes of Christian, Kizon and various bikie and ethnic gang leaders wiped clean off the face of the planet. If some hangers on get hurt in the process well, such is the price you pay for not picking your friends more wisely.

Taboo or Not To Boo?

2008-05-02T01:53:50Z

Much talk about whether to boo Chris Judd tonight. I am really surprised at the amount of angst amongst fellow Eagle supporters about whether they should boo or not.

These guys are cattle. You could be the most loyal player of a club but if they choose to trade you or dump you, they do so. How many loyal servants of the club would we have dumped if that was what it took to get hold of Chris Judd in the first place?

There will be booing and it will be good natured booing at worst. I won't boo. I won't cheer or clap him either, but I won't boo him. He is an extraordinary person and player, and I carry no grudge that he left us - only disappointment. We should remember that had he not re-signed with us, we could have lost him two years earlier.

Eat Drink & Be Merry

2008-05-02T01:45:55Z

The news services this morning thought that it was newsworthy to report the outcome of a study done by an representative body of distilled mixer drinks.

The distillers have discovered that binge drinking of mixer drinks is decreasing. This comes amid the hot topical debate about legislating for reduced alcohol content in such drinks.

This is a credible source for your new items I must say!

What crap...

There'll Be Tears!

2008-05-02T01:31:45Z

I've ranted previously about reality television. The description of this palpable human waste as 'reality' is in itself a misnomer. It is no more like real life than is CSI Miami. I not only dislike it - I passionately abhor it. (Sorry Lisa!)

Each to their own and if people want to spend countless hours taking this in that is fine with me. Likewise, if I chose to slag it mercilessly, that is fine with me too. I think Network 10 is the worst offender and has offered us the 'Big Brother' and 'Idol' tripe. Sadly, the other networks and even dear old Aunty are on the bandwagon too.

I have missed out on television (by choice) for so long that I can not relate to, nor understand the attraction. Even more, I am genuinely saddened and disturbed by the level to which it is entrenched in the psyche of the all too average Australian fodder watcher. Such shows dominate radio discussion, newspapers and magazines. Predominantly 13 year old females of our species flock to shopping centres where these erstwhile nonentities arrive for promotional work. They are famous for absolutely fucking nothing yet they are famous nonetheless. They get paid about $1,000 to turn up at a pub and hang around for an hour (they really do).

The main thrust of such shows are to strip people of their self-respect and then hang them out in front of the viewers of Australia so that they can gawk in humour, sorrow or amazement.

The real trick is to make contestants cry. The more tears - the better it is. Watch the promos for these shows. Notice how they concentrate on the tear factor? Somebody said something nasty to someone else so ..... BLUBBER! Some fat fuck didn't lose 20 kilos in the last month despite cutting down the cream bun intake to 5 per day, so ..... BLUBBER! Some dipstick on an island got voted off because they are a first class spanker, so ..... BLUBBER! It's all rather tacky.

I actually only started this rant to because I wanted to comment on the fact that Channel 10 are to introduce Corey, the recalcitrant ratbag partyboy, to the Big Brother house this weekend. You know what disappoints me? I haven't heard anyone yet comment on the morality shown by one of our licensed television networks in allowing this booze-swilling buffoon to further play on his celebrity status.

I think it is improper and I think it is immoral. Here is a punk who caused vast damage to property and wasted immeasurable public resources and now Network 10 now sees fit to validate his behaviour.

What message is being given here? Will the young and impressionable in society feel that such behaviour if not condoned, might still be worthwhile because it's all just a bit of a laugh?

The executives of Network 10 will no doubt defend their right to put this teen wanker on the show and would probably claim some pious responsibility to show the public what they want. They would also claim that after all, they only reflect community standards - they don't shape them. Well, they do shape them and they continue to plummet to new depths in the vast pool of sewerage that is reality television.

Network 10 executives are a disgrace and were I able to, I would dismiss the lot of them and force them onto the streets to get a real job. Perhaps there could be a reality TV show in it?

Symbolism

2008-04-24T03:25:03Z

Swastikas, US flags and Olympic torches. Crucifixes and pictures of Allah. All symbols.

They represent love, devotion, hatred or death and people get so worked up about them. yet they are just... symbols, inanimate representations.

This Olympic torch stuff is really annoying the crap out of me. It is a bloody torch for fuck's sake! the media in all forms have humanised the thing.

"The torch was whisked away to safety overnight"

"The torch was welcomed to Australia by..."

and so on.

I'm just waiting for the torch to develop a bloody headache one day soon and decide not to go out jogging.....

This whole Olympic thing is one big yawn to me. Some of the sports are enjoyable but not that many.

As for Olympic ideals... They clearly died for the majority of people when professionalism took over.

Furthermore, I think every four years is far too often to have to endure the opening and closing ceremonies and why can't we put in place a total news embargo on the Olympics until say a week before the games start?

Miserable killjoy ain't I?

;-)

The Artful Dodger

2008-04-22T08:35:50Z

One of the items I recently bought off Ebay was an oil canvass set from China. I have visions of block-mounting the items and hanging them in the lounge, to match the new decor.

So, I bought the set. The postage cost out of China is a huge $43 and the so-called 'postage and handling costs' is just a ruse by the vendors to rip you off on top of your nominal purchase price. (It was approximately $50).

I knew all of this prior to finalising the purchase but decided to go ahead anyway, as the pic was just what I wanted and it saves me rummaging through overpriced Australian art shops where you pay 4 times the price but all you get is a bloody print..

So I get the goods - fair enough, and also get prompted to comment on the Ebay seller's account service.

Well, diddling you on the administrative costs is a bit cheeky even if you accept that you are being diddled. I thought that the right thing to do was to rate the postage costs on the low end of the scale and to comment that the costs were too high. I didn't slag them in any other way. You get what you pay for after all. The following however, is their rating of me as a purchaser...

I am a 'buyer of craftiness' - a 'dishonest buyer' apparently. How I can be dishonest when I am on the paying end of the transaction, I do not know, but I guess I shall take the criticism on board.

In fact, I'm feeling remorseful to the point where I may hang myself from the wall instead of the pictures.

That's it for me, I can't visit the Olympics now. I'll be shot on site or worse still, incarcerated and forced to watch endless Kung Fu movies...

2020 (Tele) Vision

2008-04-21T08:22:31Z

So the gabfesting is over and the idealists God bless 'em are winging their way back to obscurity. I don't mind people wanting to change the world for the better and I really don't intend this to be a criticism of their good intentions. However...

What is 2020 really going to be like? What is achieved by inviting Corporate Australia Ltd. and the multimedia whores to a weekend chat?

Do you actually trust people whose primary claim to fame is the siphoning off of your wealth into their bulging pockets? I don't. The media are a subsidiary of Corporate Australia Ltd. and they represent their parent company magnificently. Our leading politicians have to bare their arses to Corporate Australia or they will be hounded out of office by an army of sheep, whipped into a frenzy by their media subsidiary.

If we could transport now to 2020, I think you would be horrified by what you see. In the same way, if you were taken from 1978 and dropped into 2008, you would be equally horrified. There would be some amazement at the technological advances and sure, a lot of that is driven by business. I ask you though, at what price progress?

2020? I see even more of the same x 100. People who have no opinion other than that which is shoved into them by the media. I see a society where you dare not set out of your door without a can of mace, a knife and a personal alarm. I see a society were we spend so much of our resources on human offal, that we can't afford to look after those who have put their lives on the line for us. I see a society where even more of the government is sold off to Corporate Australia. The balance sheet rules now and will rule stronger in 2020.

Seriously, what is your vision of 2020? Not what you would like to see, but rather what will you see?

What do you see for Australian society in 2020? How will it change?

Disconcerting

2008-04-16T04:26:52Z

Tuesday April 15, 02:23 PM

Terror cell 'planned AFL final attack'

"A Melbourne-based terrorist cell had planned an attack on the 2005 AFL grand final, a court has been told.

Izzydeen Atik told the court the group's alleged leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika had informed him of the targets.

"He said the AFL grand final was the original target," Atik told the Victorian Supreme Court.

But the grand final attack had to be put off after ASIO and police raided the homes of group members in July 2005."

When 911 happened I was on holidays or maybe I was between shifts. I can't remember which. I was a single man and spending a lot of time alone.

I had been browsing the Internet and headed to the BBC web site as I periodically do. It was showing pictures that I assumed were of those 'what if a plane hits the tower?' scenarios.

It soon became clear that this wasn't a 'what-if'. A plane had hit the first tower. I jumped on the TV and there I stayed from the aftermath of the first tower being hit, right the way through to the second tower being smashed live before my eyes. The rest of it is as they say - history.

It changed my views on life.

Experts have suggested that many people the world over suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome and I believe I did too. It was unimaginably brutal and mindless.

What makes it worse is that you identify with disaster. 600,000 people murdered in Rwanda doesn't grip you in quite the same way. That wasn't meant callously, but we simply don't identify to the same degree with what happened there. 911 though could have been us! This was an attack on us! We have been attacked since in Bali and I guess that demonstrates why we took it more to heart.

For a long time after 911 I didn't think that as a species we were worthy of survival. I couldn't see any compelling reason why humanity deserved to be preserved. Nothing has changed my thinking either. I still don't. The sooner we become extinct, the better off any number of innocent species will be.

Ever since 911, I view every public gathering as an opportunity for a terrorist act. I view the casino as a terrorist target. Shopping malls and busy public streets fire up my imagination in ways I'd rather not be thinking.

I was at the 2005 AFL Grand Final and I sat there thinking what a wonderful target we 90,000 people presented to lunatic fanaticism.

It seems the lunatic fanatics were of the same opinion.

How do you stop such madness? You can thwart most of the evil plans but somehow, somewhere a major disaster will befall us that makes 911 pale into insignificance. You just can't cover all bases.

What surprises me is the large number of people who will not face this prospect. Denial seems to allow you to sleep better at night and think that you and your progeny will have a bright future.

I enjoy life and a good laugh is what I live for. I think I'm even hedonistic and the events of that day of infamy may even account for that. You just never know if today will be your last. Pessimist though? No, just a realist who hopes he doesn't live to see the next Holocaust.

Come Uppance

2008-04-14T09:11:46Z

Condensed from The West Australian (online)

Restaurant manager pleads guilty to vigilante attack

14th April 2008, 16:00 WST

A 15-year-old boy caught trying to steal alcohol from Bunbury’s Lord Forest Hotel late last year was taken hostage, assaulted, threatened with a firearm and hit across the fingers with a hammer.

Details of the vigilante attack involving up to six adults emerged in the District Court in Bunbury today when the hotel’s former restaurant manager Max Ross, 43, pleaded guilty to deprivation of liberty.

In remanding Rossi for sentencing, Judge Allan Fenbury said people had to be discouraged from taking the law into their own hands.

“While he was a young burglar breaking the law vigilantism is to be discouraged,” Judge Fenbury said. “You’ve got to call the police, even if sometimes they don’t come.”

And I guess that is the state we have got to. I don't condone smacking the little shit's fingers with a hammer but then, I don't particularly care that they did either.

I've seen time and time again in the line of work, where the police do not respond to reported criminal acts. They are just too busy.

Vigilantism is not simply, the likely outcome people will seek to obtain justice and redress, it is the only outcome they can pursue.

Candid About The Camera

2008-04-13T07:52:39Z

As mentioned last week, I bought a new camera in readiness for a European trip later this year.

Whilst having always been a devout Canon fan, this camera is an Olympus FE 310. It cost about $178 (I added a 2GB memory card to it for another $30-$40). I would have posted a picture of it, but......

The camera is 8 megapixels and rather unusually in this price range, has 5 optical zoom, not the usual 3 (for the not-so-geeky, that's pretty damn good).

My previous digital camera - a Canon 4.1 megapixel - is about 4 times the size of this camera. I bought it about 5 years ago and paid the wholesale price for it, having bought it through the wholesaler for my hobby computer business. it cost me about $1,200.

Oh well. I don't mind (too much) having shelled out that much money because it provided an opportunity to capture so many happy memories that otherwise would have been consigned to fading memory.

Amazing isn't it? Change happens so quickly.

icture

Don't Bag Me For This

2008-04-12T05:05:46Z

I have a question for any environmentalists out there.

When you eventually get your way and my local supermarket no longer provides biodegradable shopping bags for me to take home and use in my kitchen tidy bin, into what exactly, do I throw my rubbish?

Back To Work

2008-04-09T09:08:17Z

Back to work tomorrow after an enjoyable four day break. I fear that getting up at 5:45 tomorrow may be the death of me.

I've achieved a few things.

I ironed my shirts.
Bought a new camera for the holidays later this year.
Tidied my desk (twice).
Bought some CDs.
Bought a new 4GB thumb drive. Cost about $27. (Oz Post)
Had some tests done for my quack to look at.
Cooked dinner one night.
Washed my car. (Auto wash).
Went to the footy (oh dear!).
Blogged.

Though this is indeed what I've done, I only wrote this dribble as I'm testing Microsoft's 'Windows Live Writer' programme. I found reference to it while browsing through Lisa's blog and I've used it to compose a few blog entries so far. I like it. You should give it a go (if you don't use it already).

The only thing is though, that you need to enter the LJ site after posting, so that you can record your mood and 'listening to' bumf. The upside though is that you can spell check as you go and you do your work offline, and them simply click to post it. I shall continue to use it.

Forgive Me Father, For I have Sinned

2008-04-09T08:47:28Z

A man has caught up with his daughter after some many years absence from the family scene. He decides he loves her in a totally non-parental way and fathers a child with her. He had previously fathered another little nipper with his daughter but that one died through some sort of congenital condition. Ya don't say!

Well, I am quite liberal-minded when it comes to the matter of sex between consenting adults, but there are some things that just should never happen. This is one of them.

'Two of them' is that we should never have had it aired around the country (well, the world even - I also saw it on the BBC web site).

'Three of them' is that the TV network (was it 'Nine'?) paid for them to make fools of themselves across the country. The networks are publicity-seeking, money-grubbing, dirty little corporate sharks with no sense of ethics or good taste.

This story was not newsworthy and my opinion of television media is not news.

Shithead Lowlife

2008-04-07T10:30:37Z

View Poll: Appropriate Action

I really do wonder what sort of future we are faced with when a group of youths can brazenly wander into a school building and vandalise the place with machetes and baseball bats, injuring students and teachers alike while they seek out some kid with whom they have a grievance.

Still never mind, it's nearly time for 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away'.

Dinsdale!

2008-04-06T05:38:50Z

Out of the land of the long white cloud, comes the following news item:

Teenager assaulted with hedgehog: police

6th April 2008, 7:55 WST

A New Zealand man charged with assaulting a teenage boy with a hedgehog threw the animal at him from about five metres away, a newspaper has reported.

"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," police sergeant Bruce Jenkins told the Herald on Sunday.

He said that William Singalargh, 27, of Whakatane was arrested shortly afterward on February 9, for assaulting the 15-year-old with a weapon - "namely the hedgehog".

Ever since I was a kid visiting my grandmother in rural Yorkshire. I have been wary of these little beasts. To see that one of them conspired with a man to attack a youth comes as no surprise.

Thankfully, in Australia we only have to worry about echidnas and they are considerably less aggressive. A hedgehog in a full flight of fury is simply terrifying.

I think they should be declared as vermin and destroyed. They are responsible for far too many of society's problems - including drink spiking.

Hur Today - Gone Tomorrow

2008-04-06T05:09:54Z

The chariot wheels have fallen off. Ben Hur is no more.

Yes, Charlton Heston has put the gun back in the holster and has shuffled of this mortal coil.

There was no more impressive and statuesque figure in old Hollywood than our Mr Heston, but all in all - good riddance.

This gun-toting apologist for every wacko Yank with mental illness and attitude doesn't deserve to be remembered for much more than being the NRA's front man. His was an articulate persona to the totally indefensible spawning of gun culture across the United States.

"Guns don't kill people, People kill people". So does old age.

It is very sad to see him go as I think poetic justice would have been served if instead of passing away peacefully, somebody had blown his brains out with a semi-automatic rifle.

Moving Right Along

2008-04-04T07:27:24Z

In August 1997, the princess of hearts and the playboy son of very dubious Egyptian business man were killed in a high speed race through a French tunnel.

The driver, one of the Egyptian family's employees, was laced to the eyeballs on a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. The car was speeding, and the irresponsible behaviour of the passengers in the back (by not wearing seatbelts) all contributed to the death of the joy riders.

Still - some 10 and a half years later -Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed still refuses to face the facts. MI5, MI6. The Duke of Edingburgh and Uncle Tom Cobley have all conspired to hide the terrible truth that they killed his son and them other folks in the car.

It is no doubt difficult to accept the death of one's own children and it is a natural part of the process to seek blame in some quarter. Some people seek to blame themselves in some way, while others look to blame anybody but themselves.

What usually happens though is you move on. You don't wear it around your neck like a yoke, and you don't use it to fire you up in to outrageous indignation on a daily basis at the very thought that justice has not been served. Not after 10 years. You may still hold others responsible in some way. You keep your own wise counsel on the subject and you deal with what is left of your life.

You have to question the morality and mental soundness of a person like Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed. His dubious business history perhaps reflects a state of mind where you believe that everybody is capable of the same sort of conspiratorial illegalities as you.

The Egyptian businessman has no more legal redress (at last!). If I were the silly old duke, I'd be beefing up security and if I were MI5 I would be tapping Abdel's phone lines. The man is a raving looney!

Amazing what you can do with money, is it not?

I See It, But I Don't Believe It...

2008-04-01T04:35:08Z

I have just checked my emails and I am still shaking my head in wonder at the content of one email that I received.

On first glance I imagine a lot of people wouldn't even give it a second thought, but to me it seems absurd in the extreme. Below is a copy of the key art of the email, which is from Ticketmaster:

I mean, for fuck's sake! the guy is a bloody disk spinner! He stands up front of a bunch of glassy-eyed, alcohol and drug-fueled mindless sheep and plays CDs. He spins records on turntable and then stops them from spinning for a fraction of a second. He plays other people's creative output. (Who have usually just ripped sections of music from other people's creative output).

For $83.50 (normal price) plus handling costs you can see this goon press buttons, scratch his balls and yell out over a microphone, "Hey guys and gals - this is really gonna blast ya - so get it on!" (or some such other mindless prattle).

Are people really going to pay for that dubious privilege? Of course they are.

Brave New World and 1984. We are here. If it is presented with enough of the right hype and fanfare, I daresay I could sell tickets at $90.00 a pop to come and see me pass my next stool. 'Shit happens' and I think I should try to make a squillion bucks from it. Before any smartarse comments appear - yes, I know I am full enough of it.

One Hullova Place

2008-04-01T00:44:02Z

Kingston Upon Hull is such an exciting place. Here is one of it's major drawcards:

2020 Vision Gabfest

2008-03-28T07:30:06Z

The people who read this blog, like me are all laymen or laywomen if you like. (Some of you rather enjoy the laying part too).

What do you make of this conference? James Hird, Hugh Jackman, James Packer and an actress by the name of Claudia Karvan (sorry but I've never heard of her. Memo to self: Must read more women's glossies).

James Packer, failed business entrepreneur when he was allowed his first joint venture into the world of commerce. James Packer, the lucky son-of-a-total prick who now heads an empire built by his two past ancestral generations. James Packer, the scientologist who no doubt awaits the arrival of the scientologically prophesised space ship to take him to eternal life. I wonder if they will allow him to take his silver spoon with him?

James Hird? Well, perhaps. I don't know really how I feel about the whole thing. There will always be people who you don't think are worthy of this post.

Naturally, the populists have been at work and it will (they obviously hope) buy favour with the populace.

For me, I just think I am becoming rather too cynical these days. Nothing, absolutely nothing will come from the conference except constipated visions and a phony 'we care what you think' big brother love-in from our Canberra government.

Isn't the theory behind voting for pollies that you actually can talk to them and through them, and achieve what you want? James Hird doesn't talk for me and James Packer can blow it out his arse sideways with acid spray.

This is a waste of time and money and I defy anyone to show me in time to come what was achieved by it.

When do the plebs get to be heard? (Not James)

"The Devil Made Me Do It!"

2008-03-28T03:50:03Z

While wasting time browsing the net (something I tend to do ever so occasionally), I came across the above story.

AP Texas News
March 25, 2008, 8:57PM
Family sought help for mom accused of throwing sons off bridge

By JEFF CARLTON Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

DALLAS — Khandi Busby's siblings insisted Tuesday that she was a "good mama," but was bipolar, off her medications and denied psychiatric care the night before police say she threw her two sons off a highway overpass and then jumped after them.

"If people knew Khandi before this they would know that was not her," her sister Tameka Busby said outside the courtroom. "It wasn't nothing but an attack from the devil."

I would like to categorically deny that this person is any relation of mine. She does sound though, like she is related to my brother Peter.